Presidio Beach & Sausalito - San Francisco Full City Guide - Travel & Discover

The San Francisco waterfront offers a variety of open spaces, parks, plazas, walkways, and a waterfront promenade where visitors can enjoy outdoor activities and stunning views of the city and bay. The Golden Gate Park's promenade offers incredible shoreline access and views of the San Francisco Bay. The sand dunes near the marsh are home to a variety of native plant species and are a favorite spot for sunbathers. The imposing silhouette of the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen at every point along the promenade. Visitors to the park traverse some of the city's most scenic and historic areas, including the Presidio of San Francisco and the Marina, site of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The sandy beach has been used for swimming and other recreational activities for over 100 years. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is one of the world's most beautiful and most photographed bridges. The bridge links San Francisco with Marin County and takes its name from the Golden Gate Strait that it spans. The strait is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. The color of the bridge, known as International Orange, was chosen because it blends well with the bridge's natural surroundings and provides enhanced visibility to passing ships. It's a popular misconception that the bridge is painted end-to-end each year. In 1965, due to advancing corrosion, a program to remove the original lead-based paint from the bridge began. The bridge requires routine touch-ups on an ongoing basis by a staff of 38 painters. Pedestrians and bicyclists are allowed across the bridge on pathways with sweeping views of the city, Alcatraz, and the Marin Headlands. The Golden Gate Bridge was the first bridge to institute one-way toll collection, a system that proved so successful it is now used on bridges all over the world. The steel used to build the bridge was shipped through the Panama Canal to San Francisco. The two great cables contain enough strands of steel wire, 130 kilometers in fact, to encircle the equator three times. The concrete poured into its piers and anchorages would pave a one-and-a-half meter wide sidewalk from New York to San Francisco. Before its completion in 1937, the bridge was considered unbuildable because of the foggy weather, high winds, and strong ocean currents sweeping through the deep, rugged canyon below. Often shrouded in thick fog, the bridge sways more than 8 meters to withstand winds of up to 160 kilometers per hour. The bridge has only been closed for weather conditions on three occasions. Views of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay are often laced with fog, creating a romantic mood in this most European of American cities. The first exit on the Marin side of the bridge, Vista Point, provides outstanding views of the San Francisco skyline. The Golden Gate Bridge is the result of the long-term determination of the people of six California counties who formed themselves into the Golden Gate Bridge District comprising the city and county of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, and Del Norte counties, as well as a portion of Napa and Mendocino counties. The best postcard views are from above the bridge on the San Francisco side from the South Vista Point. San Francisco is arguably one of the United States' most romantic destinations. Often called everybody's favorite city, it has rightfully earned this title thanks to its spectacular scenic beauty and wealth of cultural attractions.